A Clayton County judge said Thursday that she will file additional charges against the stepmother of a boy allegedly held captive for four years.
Gregory Jean, 37, and Samantha Joy Davis, 42, were arrested and charged with false imprisonment and child cruelty after the 13-year-old was found late last month hidden behind a wall in the couple's Jonesboro-area home. The pair was denied bond at an initial court appearance, and asked for a continuance of their case during a Dec. 9 hearing.
Channel 2 Action News reported that at a Thursday morning hearing for Jean and Davis, Clayton County Superior Court Judge Wanda Dallas said she was so upset about the details of the case that she will file additional assault charges against Davis for allegedly beating the boy with a stick.
According to police, the boy had bruising and bleeding and appeared to be in shock when he was found last month.
The boy led police by cell phone texts to his mother to a tiny crawl space between the garage and attic of his father’s Jonesboro home — even as his father and stepmother denied knowing the boy, according to Officer Joanne Southerland with Clayton County police. Officers found the boy in a space behind the linen closet early Nov. 30 after returning to the house for a second time to find him.
The boy went missing in 2010 shortly after visiting his father, a U.S. citizen from Haiti. The boy’s mother, who is not from the United States and is apparently unfamiliar with U.S. protocols regarding missing children, called child services about the situation instead of the police, police have said.
The boy was reunited with his mother in a tearful reunion, and is now living with her in Florida.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.
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